It's funny. In 2000, I hated Gore and I thought the 2 parties were no different from one another. I still think, as I explained below, that the Democratic Party is waaay too cautious about a lot of stuff, and I'm consistently disappointed by them, but I've changed my tune about Gore. I met the guy in 2002 during a campaign in Florida I was working for, and heard him speak. He's actually a really likeable, pleasant, intelligent, sharp, speaker. And he's done a lot of good raising awareness about global warming and the climate crisis.

My question as always to Mr. Gore is this: What did you and Pres. Clinton do for 8 years for the environment? Did you force car companies to increase emissions standards? Did you roll out the bully pulpit and demand that we sign Kyoto? Not quite. Yes, they were working against a Republican Congress, but still. I've never believed that the Clinton administration did enough for the environment. Thus, my continued skepticism about Gore, although I do believe he'd be a decent Presidential candidate in '08.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Although I can never ever possibly know what it's like to lose someone in a war, I can sympathize with Sheehan's frustration. It's sad to see someone as genuine and passionate as Sheehan get chewed up and spit out by the system.

As she says:

The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing. His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives. It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most.

One point Sheehan makes here is that a lot of the Progressive left abandoned her when she started criticizing the Dems for their political cowardice and stupidity and utter failure to end the war despite the huge mandate they were clearly given in November to do so. I share Sheehan's frustration with the two party system, and while I was in college and for a few years afterwards, I was involved in third party politics. The trouble with third parties is that a) there are way too many of them and they mostly have about 4 members each, b) none of them get along enough to work together, and c) the whole electoral system is so utterly and completely stacked against third parties that you have to be a millionaire like Perot or Mike Bloomberg to even consider a run. Even Ralph Nader couldn't break 10% of the vote, and he had basically a national campaign. I myself worked for David McReynolds, a great peace activist with the War Resister's League and the Socialist Party's candidate for president in 2000. The SP-USA couldn't even get on the ballot in most states. That's just ridiculous.

Anyway, I salute Sheehan's courage, and I sympathize with her frustrations. I don't feel that I have the right to criticize her decision to quit her fight, because I really can't put myself in her place, I can't know what she's had to go through to make this decision. I hope she continues to speak out in whatever way she feels she can, and I urge all activists to take Sheehan's core point to heart: apathy is fatal.

John Hagee's nights "to honor Israel" do nothing to honor Israel. Instead, they bring to light some fundamental philosophical and theological differences between most modern Jews and a large portion of fundamentalist Christians.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to honor the Jewish people and the Jewish state while advancing a homophobic, anti-feminist, anti-environmentalist, theocratic political agenda. To truly honor the Jewish people, evangelicals should hearken to Jewish ideas of equality, social justice, religious liberty, and environmental stewardship. Until evangelicals abandon the politics of hate and divisiveness, many modern Jews will not be comfortable allying with them on the issue of Israel.

In addition, a lot of Jews are uncomfortable with the apocalyptic undertones of Hagee's organization. Many of the far-right leaders who are involved in Hagee's organization believe in biblical literalism, and their support of Israel is conditioned entirely on a belief that the establishment of a secure Jewish state will lead directly to the second coming of Jesus and the apocalypse.

I don't really think that one can truly "support Israel" if that support is conditioned on the forced conversion of the Jewish people to Christianity in the "end times." One simply cannot genuinely honor the Jewish people while secretly hoping for our destruction.

The support for Israel expressed by leaders like Hagee is unconditional to the point of fanaticism. Many of these evangelical leaders seek only to establish a "greater Israel" without involving themselves in real issues. CUFI's mandate seems to be a purely Biblical one, with no practical grounding in the geopolitical complexities of the issues. Pure, unquestioning, hardline support for Israel, without such understanding, is not only meaningless, it is dangerous.

Many progressive Jews favor a more balanced perspective. We recognize that support for Israel means engaging in the ongoing debate about how best to secure its future, and that compromises must be made on both sides to achieve a lasting peace in the region. We are not afraid to criticize the Israeli government when it does something wrong, and we recognize that, eventually, most of the settlements will have to be dismantled. We are engaged in Israel's future in a real and meaningful way, participating actively in the growth of a Jewish state that honors our traditions, respects our values, and lives at peace with its neighbors. Hagee's hardline bullhorn and Falwell's support for such far-right Israeli leaders as Benjamin Netanyahu only hamper our efforts and bring further division to an already impossible situation.

True support of Israel means support for the Jewish people, as we are, and of our right to religious freedom in our homeland and here in this country. Religious freedom means freedom for all religions, and freedom from interference in our religious affairs. Evangelicals are free to support Israel, but that support must be genuine, and engaged in the real struggle for a lasting peace in the region. Until the evangelical community, and CUFI in particular, gains a more realistic, moderate, and socially progressive perspective, most Jews will not want to ally with them on Israel.

"What self-defeating madness. For peace to come, Israel must give up the West Bank and share Jerusalem; the Palestinians must give up the dream of return and make Israel feel secure as a Jewish state. All the rest is detail."

Friday, May 25, 2007

Well, the Dems caved on the war, but they won a significant increase in the minimum wage, something that has been long overdue. If only the press would do more to report that small victory, instead of harping on Reid and Pelosi's political cowardice in the war funding portion of the bill...

"I support different choices & lifestyles. Hell, my best friend is black. I just don't want any of them niggers marrying my daughter."

I'm sorry, Mr. Romney, if you said this about black people, I'd call you a racist. Since you're saying it about me and my partner, then I will continue to call you a homophobe. Also, calling homosexuality a "choice" or a "lifestyle" is akin to calling being black a "choice" or a "lifestyle." It makes no sense.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

"Our politics... is now about the answer to one briefly-worded question.Mr. Bush has failed.Mr. Warner has failed.Mr. Reid has failed.So.Who among us will stop this war—this War of Lies?To he or she, fall the figurative keys to the nation.To all the others—presidents and majority leaders and candidates and rank-and-file Congressmen and Senators of either party—there is only blame… for this shameful, and bi-partisan, betrayal."

I was asked to read poetry today at an event with "Poets for Peace," specifically local poets Rev. Mary McAnally and Deborah Hunter. I hadn't written poetry seriously in years, so it was a bit of a challenge to come up with good stuff. Still, I think I managed it.

Here's what I wrote for and read at the event:

1. So I was asked

to read a poem aboutpeacehonestly I don't knowif I have it in meor what possible insight I could giveI'm no soldierand I haven't lost anyoneMy only connection is my humanityburying its head in the sandbecause it can't believewhere these kidnappers in chiefhave taken this countrystrapping us all to a chairin their dank basementforcing us to watch themsmear our best intentionswith their own special brand of bullshit.

Monday, May 7, 2007

The executive board of Christians United for Israel contains at least three theofascists: John Hagee, Gary Bauer, and Jerry Falwell. Need I say more? The Jewish people need NOT be getting into bed with these people.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Sarkozy wins it. I had hope that Segolene Royal could pull it out, but sadly, non.

Well, this is going to be very bad for the Parti Socialiste. Perhaps the French left needs to regroup, like the right did, when Chirac and his allies created the UMP out of the old Gaullist party Rallye pour la Republique. (Both Chirac in 2002 and Sarkozy in 2007 ran under the UMP banner). Perhaps the Parti Socialiste needs to create its own center-left version of the UMP, trying to draw in supporters of the centrist parties on one side, and the moderate elements of the Parti Communiste on the other. One thing's certain, the Parti Socialiste cannot stand another defeat without serious turmoil.